Coachella City Leaders Welcome New City Manager; Hold Town Hall Meeting

Coachella city leaders welcomed David Garcia as the new city manager at their Wednesday night meeting.

?We are very excited about the selection of David Garcia as the next city manager of the city of Coachella,? says Mayor Eduardo Garcia. ?He is very well rounded in terms of his professional skill set and considerable experience in municipal management. His greatest strengths are in the areas of financial management and budgeting, redevelopment, land use planning and building effective management teams; expertise we especially need right now and for the longer term.?

According to city leaders, Garcia has served in top local and regional government executive positions in Southern California, Arizona and Texas. Most recently he served as Team Leader, Government and Essential Services with the U.S. Department of State for a position located in Babylon, Iraq where he headed a provincial reconstruction team consisting of military officers, diplomats, and subject matter experts. Garcia and his team were tasked with stabilizing governmental units in democratic Iraq.

Garcia?s salary will be set at the annual rate of $220,000. He will start his job on June 10.

Thursday, leaders will hold a town hall meeting today to talk about the city’s budget troubles.

The city had to cut more than $2.5 million from its budget within a seven month period.

Cuts include layoffs in the police and fire departments, 19 city workers, and 10% pay reductions for all city employees.

The city will hold 5 meetings over the next 2 weeks to inform residents about the city’s fiscal shape and possible changes needed to balance its budget.

The meetings will also include discussion about Measure I, the utility users tax which appears on the June 8th ballot.

?It’s one of those things where we need to look at what the benefits from us all contributing to our local economy,? said Mayor Eduardo Garcia. ?That will be protecting our public safety services and other essential services, such as parks, streets. We’re going to be protecting jobs in essence, and we want to make sure voters understand what’s at stake.?

The first of those meetings will be held tonight at 6:30pm at Our Lady Of Soledad Church at 52525 Oasis Palm Avenue. The remaining four meetings will be held at the following dates and locations:

Monday, May 24, 6:30 p.m. at Palm View Elementary School, 1930 7th St. Tuesday, May 25, 6:30 p.m. at Valle del Sol Elementary School, 51-433 Education Way Tuesday, June 1, 6:30 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, 49-601 Avenida De Oro Wednesday, June 2, 6:30 p.m. at Peter Pendleton Elementary School, 84-750 Calle Rojo